Hudson's Bay Company Staff House

Moose Factory, an island just south of James Bay, was established in 1673 as the main trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company. It is Canada's oldest English-speaking community. The company's staff house and three servant houses recall the settlement's bygone era.

The Hudson's Bay Company began as a fur-trading enterprise in 1670, evolving into a trading and exploration company that spanned Canada and parts of the United States. The company remains Canada's oldest corporation and one of its largest retailers.

In 1977, the Hudson's Bay Company donated its Staff House at Moose Factory to the Ontario Heritage Trust. One of the symbols of the company's long presence in the fur trade of the north, it was constructed in 1850 to provide sleeping quarters for bachelor employees. The Staff House was built of squared logs using techniques borrowed from British ship building. Spikes joined the logs together; the corners were simply butt-ended. Between 1982 and 1984, the Trust acquired the Joseph Turner House (1864), the William McLeod House (1890) and the Ham Sackabukisham House (1926), all traditional timber frame structures built for Hudson's Bay Company tradespeople, and relocated them near the Staff House in Centennial Park.

These structures have been extensively restored with funds provided by the federal and provincial governments.